Ettore Bastico

Ettore Bastico (9 April 1876-2 December 1972) was a Marshal of Italy who fought in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II.

Biography
Ettore Bastico was born on 9 April 1876 in Bologna, Italy, and he joined the Royal Italian Army in 1896. Bastico served in the military during World War I, and he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General in 1928. In 1932, he was promoted to Major-General, and he led the 1st Blackshirt Division during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. Bastico replaced Mario Roatta as commander of the Italian expeditionary force in Spain in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War, only to be replaced later that year by Mario Berti. In 1939, he became a National Fascist Party (PNF) senator, and he was appointed Governor-General of the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea at the start of World War II. In 1941, he briefly held command over all Axis forces in North Africa, and he was reduced to command Axis forces in Libya by 1942, with the German general Erwin Rommel taking over command of all Axis forces. On 2 February 1943, having been promoted to Marshal of Italy, he was removed from command due to the loss of Libya, and he spent his last years studying history. Bastico died in Rome in 1972 at the age of 96.